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Manhattan Transfers

By Stephen Jacob Smith 6/17 3:05pm

Manhattan Transfers

Ms. Hovey channeled her "Palm Beach on crack" style into a more manageable dose of Adderall at the Edge.

Flipping Over the Edge: Williamsburg Penthouse Sells for $3 M.

With a forest of high-rises about to sprout on the Greenpoint waterfront and Two Trees looking to build Brooklyn’s tallest tower at the old Domino Sugar Factory site, the Edge and Northside Piers are about to have a lot of competition for waterfront views in northern Brooklyn.

But for now, they’re all we’ve got, and they’ve got the price tags to show for it: one of the penthouses at the North Tower at the Edge just closed late last week for $3 million, making it the first penthouse resale in the building. Read More

By Stephen Jacob Smith 6/11 3:41pm

Manhattan Transfers

Blinded by the white!

Blinded by the White: After $10 M. Renovation, Newly Limestoned 45 East 74th Asks $30 M.

There are renovations, and then there’s 45 East 74th Street.

Originally built in 1879, the Upper East Side townhouse was tragically disfigured in the 1950s by a renovation that removed its stoop, stripped it of its cornice, clad it in boring red brick and punched holes in its lackluster façade for air conditioning units. But after an extensive mutli-million dollar renovation, the property—now a stark, white, limestone-faced structure that makes its prewar neighbors look frumpy in comparison—is asking $30 million. Read More

By Stephen Jacob Smith 6/10 10:15am

Manhattan Transfers

Vacant as the day it was born.

The Nightmare on East 73rd Street Is Over: Pavia House Sells for $19.5 M.

Nearly two decades after George and Antonia Pavia signed a lease on their Upper East Side townhouse with notoriously litigious tenant James Couri, sparking years of legal wrangling and copious quantities of press, the couple’s time at 18 East 73rd Street is finally coming to a close: they’ve signed a contract to sell the neo-Georgian brick townhouse for $19.5 million to an undisclosed buyer, according to Douglas Elliman, who represented the sellers. Read More

By Kim Velsey 6/07 6:53pm

Manhattan Transfers

It took a long time, but someone is finally buying.

After Years on the Market, Magnificent Riverside Drive Mansion Finally Finds a Buyer

Mysterious, beautiful and fiercely independent—the Schinasi Mansion at 351 Riverside Drive—the Ellen Olenska of real estate, has finally found a buyer. The white marble, 12,000-square-foot French Renaissance mansion is one of the rare free-standing single-family houses in Manhattan (and one could hardly hope to possess Gracie Mansion or the Morris Jumel), but has lingered (some might even say languished) on the market for the better part of seven years. In that time, she has lowered her lofty expectations considerably, dropping her $31 million ask to a much more modest $13.5 million.

When we called, Corcoran broker Tod Mercy confirmed that the magnificent, 12-bedroom, 11-bath mansion, which Robert A.M. Stern called “unsurpassed in refinement in the West End,” is indeed in contract. But he could not comment on the identity of the buyers or the price (which we had heard was close to the ask) and the Corcoran spokesperson he referred us to was unforthcoming about even his unforthcomingness, writing: “We have no comment.  Please do not quote me directly.” Read More

By Stephen Jacob Smith 6/07 3:23pm

Manhattan Transfers

Arches fit for a Moor.

This Used to Be My Playground: Madonna’s CPW Co-op Sells for $4 M. Discount

We knew that the Material Girl wasn’t going to get the nearly $20 million that she last asked for her sprawling pad on 41 Central Park West—brokers told the Wall Street Journal last week that it sold for “considerably less”—but it’s still sad to see the pre-war beauty fall short: her co-op ended up closing for $16 million, according to city records. Read More

By Stephen Jacob Smith 6/05 3:53pm

Manhattan Transfers

Swipe one of Judge Judy's artworks and you'll end up in a lot more than small claims court.

Judge Judy Sells $8.5 M. Pied-à-Terre at the Sherry Netherland

Order! All rise!

The judgments on Judge Judy might not be real, and the participants may only receive a few hundred dollars for appearing on the show, but Judith Sheindlin‘s payday is very real: the most famous judge on television just sold a pricey pied-à-terre at the Sherry Netherland Hotel, according to city records.

Her Honor (the woman, not the woman’s 150-foot yacht) picked up the two-bedroom co-op on the 11th floor of 781 Fifth Avenue back in 2009, paying $6.75 million. It was a healthy discount off the nearly $8 million ask—and a massive break from the original $15 million price tag the co-op was sporting back in 2008. But what goes around comes around and Judge Judy also got less than she wanted, settling for $8.5 million though she was originally asking $9 million. Read More

By Stephen Jacob Smith 6/04 4:39pm

Manhattan Transfers

Good luck finding a $1.8 million one-bedroom at 432 Park.

Former Sales Chief Richard Wallgren Cashes Out of 15 CPW

Given that 15 Central Park West has made headlines for its record-setting sales (and, lately, some unrealistic asks), it’s good to see that the little guys can still make a buck at the limestone money printing press.

Little guys like Richard Wallgren, executive vice president of sales and marketing at Macklowe Properties. Mr. Wallgren, a former investment banker, knew when to buy: at the trough of the real estate cycle. He picked up his eighth-floor one-bedroom, 1,079-square-foot sponsor unit in April 2008 for a bit over $1.8 million, or just $1,685 a foot—a sizable discount off of the more than $2.5 million ask. Read More

By Stephen Jacob Smith 6/04 11:55am

Manhattan Transfers

The ivy is a crawler, not a sprinter, but she'll do.

Passed Over for Top Legg Mason Job, Ron Dewhurst Takes His $6.2 M. and Goes to the West Village

Ron Dewhurst may just have left global investment management firm Legg Mason after being passed over for the top spot, but he isn’t letting his new-found (f)unemployment get him down: the former banker just picked up a $6.2 million townhouse in the West Village according to city records.

Mr. Dewhurst’s new digs at 49 Barrow Street, just off Seventh Avenue, may not be as pricey as his Melbourne mansion, which in 2012 was the city’s highest sale at nearly $17 million (in Australian dollars), but it still has quite the pedigree. Built in 1826, when the Village was still a village and a destination for those seeking to flee the yellow fever epidemic that was ravaging the city proper, the house was given a makeover in the ’80s by architectural firm SITE. (New Yorkers may know them best for the Shake Shack they designed for Madison Square Park, whereas Mumbaikars might recognize them as the original designers of Antilia, a single-family skyscraper built for Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man.) Read More

By Stephen Jacob Smith 6/03 1:34pm

Manhattan Transfers

The unit has stunning views to enjoy as you traipse across time zones to reach the bathroom.

Falling Out of Love: Leroy Schecter Tries to Rent 15 CPW Pad for $125,000/Month

If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try—to rent. That seems to be the strategy of 15 Central Park West condo owner Leroy Schecter, whose ideas about what to do with his 35th-floor condo combo in the limestone tower are as fleeting as a price record during a New York City property boom.

First there was the $95 million ask, which would have made it around the most expensive in the city (One57 and 432 Park penthouses have contracts signed for around the same price, though the exact figures haven’t yet been made public). Then there was a $10 million reduction to $85 million, which didn’t even last a month before the listing was pulled from the market. Read More

By Stephen Jacob Smith 5/31 2:03pm

Manhattan Transfers

Not the limestone we've come to expect from the Upper East Side.

Can Solomon Asser Quadruple His Money in Yorkville?

Last we checked in with Upper East Side developer Solomon Asser and his Tecny Group, they were turning a carved-up, 16-foot-wide apartment building back into a single-family residence. This time, Mr. Asser is going the other way: he recently listed a commercial building that his group bought back in 2011 and has carved up into three residential units.

Mr. Asser paid $3.75 million for the building at 350 East 81st Street, just off First Avenue (“the heart of the Upper East Side,” exaggerates the listing). “The building was in really bad shape because it wasn’t taken care of,” Mr. Asser told The Observer. “A totally dilapidated building. It was turned into some kind of a commercial space at a certain time. The previous ownership just wanted to get out.” Read More